This page contains information such as, application examples, document references, and tips related to STM32 Bluetooth® Low Energy protocol.
1. Bluetooth® LE overview
1.1. What is Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE)?
Bluetooth® Low Energy is a low-power, short range, wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth® Special Interest Group (Bluetooth® SIG[1]) to allow devices to communicate with each other.
The keys features are:
- save battery consumption as few data need to be transmitted
- create simultaneous connections as data packet are short
- develop standardized applications specified by the Bluetooth® SIG
- develop Mesh network applications
- develop proprietary applications due to the flexibility of the services and characteristics creation
Most smartphones and tablets built since 2012 support Bluetooth® LE.
The STM32WB series[2] and the STM32WBA series[3]are the ideal MCUs families for developing connected accessories that control sensors and transmit information to central devices.
Regarding the technology specifications, more information is available with the STM32WBx BLE Programming Manual [4].
2. Wiki Bluetooth® LE: pages breakdown
For users aware of this wiki Bluetooth® LE, see below the direct links to dedicated articles. For beginners, start reading the next chapter first.
- Introduction to Bluetooth® LE with STM32 (this current page)
- STM32WBA Series
- Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWBA (Information about the Bluetooth® LE software development)
- Several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
- Several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications
- Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWBA (Information about the Bluetooth® LE software development)
- STM32WB Series
- Bluetooth® LE Hardware setup (Information regarding the configuration of the board to run the application)
- Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWB (Information about the Bluetooth® LE software development)
- Several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
- Several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications
- STM32WB BLE STM32CubeMX Bluetooth® LE application creation & configuration
- STM32WBA Series
3. Easy bring up with STM32WBA Series and Bluetooth® LE
From a hardware point of view, STMicroelectronics offers various boards to set up Bluetooth® LE connectivity solution on STM32 MCUs.
The device architecture leverage state-of-the art STM32 ultra-low-power process node and is available up to 1 MB Flash and 128KB of SRAM
The first evaluation board is the NUCLEO-WBA52CG board with STM32WBA52CG UQFN48' package
On the software side, the STM32CubeWBA MCU Package[5] provides a software solution to allow customers to quickly and easily develop their own firmware thanks to:
- several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
- several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications
For more information on how to use and develop Bluetooth® LE applications see the Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWBA page.
4. Easy bring up with STM32WB Series and Bluetooth® LE
From a hardware point of view, STMicroelectronics offers various boards to set up Bluetooth® LE connectivity solution on STM32 MCUs.
The device architecture leverage state-of-the art STM32 ultra-low-power process node and is available from 256 KB up to 1 MB of Flash memory and up to 256 KB of SRAM.
Various packages are available: UQFN48, VQFN68, LGA86, WLCLSP100 and UFBGA129.
The first evaluation board is the P-NUCLEO-WB55 pack including a USB dongle and a Nucleo-64 board with STM32WB55 MCU.
NUCLEO-WB15CC is the newest entry-level development board for Bluetooth 5.2 applications running on the STM32WB15CC microcontroller. It offers 329 KB of Flash memory, 48 KB of RAM and necessary peripherals to suit engineers working on simple applications.
STMicroelectronics has expanded the STM32WB portfolio of dual-core multi-protocol microcontrollers (MCUs) by introducing the first STM32WB5MMG module provided on the STM32WB5MM-DK Discovery kit.
The module enriches the STM32WB ecosystem and offers customers an easy way to add this BLE feature for faster time-to-market for the product introduction.
For more information on how to bring up the hardware to run simple Bluetooth® LE application check the Bluetooth® LE hardware setup page.
On the software side, the STM32CubeWB MCU Package[6] provides a software solution to allow customers to quickly and easily develop their own firmware thanks to:
- several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
- several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications
- STM32CubeMX Bluetooth® LE application creation & configuration
For more information on how to use and develop Bluetooth® LE applications see the Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWB page.
5. Quick access to STM32WB online resources
5.1. STM32WB Bluetooth® LE videos
STM32WB Getting Started Series
1st 32-bit Wireless module presentation
5.2. STM32WB Bluetooth® LE MOOC (massive online courses)
STM32WB workshop
Information about STM32WB MCU line, with its hardware and software tools introduction and multiple hands-on session. The course provides an introduction to BLE theory and its implementation within STM32WB stack.
STM32WB Firmware Update Over the Air (FUOTA)
Basic information about software update STM32WB MCU line using different tools and techniques, including over the air methods
STM32 Bluetooth® LE MESH Introduction
How to build Bluetooth Mesh network with STM32WB using STM32WB55 Nucleo pack and its software package
5.3. STM32WB software application notes and user manuals
5.4. STM32WB hardware guidance
6. Specific tools
- STM32CubeMonitor-RF - Software tool to test the RF performance of STM32-based hardware devices
- STM32CubeMX - STM32Cube initialization code generator
- STM32CubeProgrammer - Software Programmer for all STM32
- STM32PowerShield - Power and Analyze current consumption
7. References
8. Terms and definitions
Term | Definition |
---|---|
ACI | Application control Interface |
ATT | Attribute protocol |
BLE | Bluetooth® Low Energy |
DK | Development kit |
GAP | Generic access profile |
GATT | Generic attribute profile |
HCI | Host control interface |
L2CAP | Logical link control adaptation layer protocol |
MCU | Microcontroller unit |
PDU | Protocol data unit |
RF | Radio frequency |
RSSI | Receive signal strength indicator |
SIG | Special Interest Group |
UUID | Universally unique identifier |
WPAN | Wireless personal area network |